Switch Art Online
by Lojky
Summary: Characters switch places. The personalities switch. And who lives and died is switched too! (Original Timeline AU) (HEAVY OOC!)
1. Switch 0 - Teaser

"I'm heading out!"

"Okay Sugu! See ya after Kendo!" I call after my sister.

Hi. I'll admit, I'm a little bit of an otaku. I love video games! I was lucky enough to be in the beta test for one of the first Virtual Reality MMO's, Sword Art Online!

 _11:56_

It's been a month since the beta ended, and in just four minutes, the game launches! My family isn't the most wealthy, but I bummed enough money off of my adoptive mom, who's really my aunt, and got a part time job with some family, and I got a Nervegear. SAO is free if you beta test it, so that was a non-issue!

 _11:57_

I'm trying to be casual, but I just can't wait! This game is going to be great! We may have only gotten a few floors up in the beta, but this will be different! We'll win! This game will be the center of my attention until we beat it!

 _11:58_

Two more minutes! This game! It's what I live for! I wonder what will end up happening... What swords should I use? Odachi? Greatsword? I got it! Maybe a rapier?

 _11:59_

No. That's lame. Besides, I need to focus on speed and attack. I better put on my nerve gear!

 _12:00_

"Link Start!"

 _Log in-_

 _Username: Asuna_

 _Password: *********_

 _ **WELCOME BACK!**_


	2. Switch 1 - A Psycho Savior

**I just want to preface this by saying that I am EXCITED for this story. It's gonna be weekly so I have no excuse not to post. This has been super fun to write so far. Presenting, Switch Art Online! Enjoy! (PS: Asuna is OOC. Heavily.)**

Sword Art Online! I'm back, world. And this time, I'm going to beat you! I equip my sword, and I pull it out of its sheathe.

"How did you do that?" A long brown haired girl with a pink bandana asks me. "I've been tampering with my menu since I logged in!"

"You do know the game was launched only five minutes ago, right? And I know this stuff because I was in the beta. Just swipe your fingers down," I show the girl.

"That's five minutes I wasted! And thanks!" I start walking away from the girl, when she grabs my shoulder. "Hey, sense you were in the beta and all, could you help me with leveling?"

I sigh, grab her hand, and drag her through the fields outside of the Town of Beginnings. She equips her weapon, then swears.

"What? Do you not have a weapon?" I ask her.

"You know how dagger is right by hammer with weapon choice?" the girl asks me.

I laugh. "I'm Asuna,"

"Lisbeth, Samurai extraordinaire!" She sticks out her hand and nods, and her bandana falls over her eyes. She pushes it back up and grins. "Nice to meetcha!"

I take her hand, shake it, and charge up my sword skill. I whip around, and hit the boar that I could hear behind us. It dies in one shot.

"Woah! How didja make your sword glow? That was awesome!" Lisbeth pumps her fist in the air.

"It's called a sword skill! Basically the system..." We talk and fight for hours. By five thirty, Lisbeth was level three, and I was level five.

"Hey, it's been great Asuna, but I've got Kung Pao chicken with sweet and sour sauce and DrPepper, so I've gotta go!" Lisbeth waves to me and opens her menu. I get a friend request, and I accept it.

"Feel free to contact me whenever! I'll see you around, Lisbeth!" I turn to walk away when Lisbeth shouts my name.

"Asuna? Am I a total noob, or is there no way to log out?" Lisbeth screws up her face and repeatedly tries to spam the log out button. I open up my menu, and sure enough, there's no way to log out.

"Maybe it's a glitch? I mean, the game _is_ just out of beta... Did you try contacting the GM?" I ask her.

"Yeah. Duh. But they just aren't responding!" Lisbeth takes her hammer and uses a sword skill. Then, the world around us starts to turn blue. "Hey Asuna? Wh-"

All of a sudden, we've teleported to the beginning town.

"-at's going on?" I look around me, and everyone is pointing at the sky. Blue liquid is falling from a bunch of red hexagons. The liquid forms a giant GM in the sky.

"My name is Kyoujiro Rinko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world."

"Asuna? What's she talking about?" Lisbeth looks terrified, and I can understand why. This world is realistic, even if it's just a game.

"I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the Log Out button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug; it is all part of Sword Art Online's system."

"What? Asuna, she's joking, right? Right?" I shake my head at Lisbeth's question. "She can't though! It's impossible!"

"...also, the disruption or dismantling of the Nerve Gear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted, the signal sensors in your Nerve Gear will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic functions," Kyoujiro's words stop everyone's chatter.

"No. That can't be true! Asuna! Say something!" Lisbeth pulls on my arm.

"No. This is completely possible. But I feel like there's more," I laugh, and it cuts through the air, silencing the crowd.

"Interesting. Laughter? Are you nervous, miss... Asuna?" Kyoujiro makes a motion like she's zooming in on us.

"No, but you, my friend, are predictable as hell. It's not a game. Right? Do you want to explain?" I double over laughing, and Lisbeth is shaking my shoulders, trying to knock some sense into me.

"W-Well, she's correct. When your hit points reach zero-"

"WE DIE! GET IT? WE DIE! It's not just a GAME!" I scream at the red cloaked woman. "RIGHT KYOUJIRO? YOU ARE A MURDERER!" I ramble on.

"That was not my intent, but-"

"'BUT' NOTHING! YOU TRAPPED TEN THOUSAND PLAYERS IN HERE, AND FOR WHAT REASON? AMUSEMENT?" I shout, not knowing why I'm doing this. I stand up as Kyoujiro chuckles.

"I have a feeling you will be an asset in this game, miss Asuna. You could save all of your fellow players. Regardless, what Asuna is saying, is when you die in the game, you die in the real world. If you don't believe me, then test me." Kyoujiro bursts into a red cloud, and a giant mirror shines above us.

We all glow, and we're all left with a small mirror in our hands. I look into it. It's me. Not my avatar. It's actually me.

"KYOUJIRO!" I scream, and I grab Lisbeth's hand and pull her to the outskirts of the town of Beginnings. "I'm going to grind monsters a few towns over. The fields near this town will be empty soon. You and I should go and to the second town straight away!"

Lisbeth pulls her hand away from mine. "I'm sorry Asuna. People are going to peg you as a, you know, crazy person... Maybe later we can meet up and start a guild? After people pay less attention to you, like those guys."

Lisbeth points at three boys, one with red hair, another who looks a little heavier, and another with scraggly facial hair.

"Um, actually miss, we were looking at you, not the Savior," The red haired man says. "We were wondering, we need a hammer user in our group, and you were right there, so we followed you. And do you have a boyfriend?"

"Savior?" I ask. Why did he call me the Savior?

"Yeah. Everyone's saying Kyoujiro's going to give you a boost to help you beat the game. You'll be our Savior!" the heavier one tells me.

"Hm... I like it... But I'm going to lay low. I'm not ready yet to be anyone's Savior," I run down the alleyway and out of the town, not looking back. "I WILL WIN, KYOUJIRO!" I scream into the air, as I slash a wolf in half.


	3. Switch 2 - Enter: Kirito

**WARNING: HEAVY OOC INCOMING! Hope y'all enjoy!**

It's only been a month, and two thousand are dead. There's still been no contact from the real world, and we know that we're not getting out without beating the game. That's good and all, but we're still on the first floor.

There's a big group of people that aren't accepting the fact that the game is real. The army has a big chunk of player too. There's the ones who don't have anything, and finally, my stereotype, the stragglers, the ones who can't be defined by the first three groups.

The four groups were definitely different. Us stragglers are finally having a meeting. We're some of the strongest players, and we've assembled at the theater half stadium, where a girl is leading a meeting. My red hood is hiding my face, so I should be good.

"Hello, players! Congratulations! You've survived for a month! I'm Argo, and the job I rolled was warrior!" the girl smiles.

"You know there's no job system, right?" A couple of people laughed at this.

"Hey, ya can't blame a girl for trying to lighten the mood!" Argo pulls out a narrow long sword and absentmindedly swings it around as she talks. "So, does anyone have this book?" Argo held up a book.

"Oh no. I'm not having any of that lying beta tester crap! Don't believe that dang book!" A tall black man stands up. "The beta testers are the reason we're trapped here!"

"Hold on, hold on-" Argo protests as she raises her hands in self defense, while a spiky orange haired man stands up.

"Hey, you, mister 'Beta Testers are Ebola!' We need to talk!" The orange haired man walks up the other man, sizing him up. "What's your name, mister-"

"I'm Agil. And don't try to convince me to like the beta testers. It won't happen. Hah, you're going to defend them, right?" Agil stares down at the man.

"Well, I'm Kibaou. And do you _know_ how much they helped us? I mean, that guide was by some 'Diavel' and I know it's saved lots and lots of folks! Like this Lisbeth girl I met!" Kibaou has met Lisbeth then... Interesting. I wonder how it saved her. I tune out the rest of the argument, and finally, Argo opens up the book and starts planning.

"...And now, we need you all to form parties!" Argo calls. I stay put. Everyone's already formed parties, and there's probably no one on my level anyways. Besides, people are looking for Asuna the Savior. I can't be her right now.

"Did you get left out too?" Huh? A black haired boy scoots over to me. "I'm Kirito! Can I join a party with you?"

I simply nod. I send him an invite, and he gasps. "Don't say anything. Please. Not here."

"You. You're her. Oh my God," Kirito whispers in my ear. "I remember you from the beta. I was a tester too. I never talked to anyone back then!"

"Please. Stop talking," I see other people leaving, and I shoot up from my seat. "See you at the raid." I disband the party, and walk off.

A few hours later, I find myself lying down on a bench, not wanting to eat another bread roll. I sit up and open my menu, materializing a roll. I sigh.

"Hey, those taste much better with some of this!" I catch a jar that is flying towards my head. "Hey Asu- uh, friend?"

"Kirito, we're alone. It's fine to call me Asuna either way. No one will believe that it's me. And only a couple thousand people know what I look like. That event happened while we still had avatars. I'm just paranoid." I tap the lid of the jar and swipe my finger across the roll. I eat it, and it tastes great.

I toss the jar back to the black haired boy, who is leaning against the alley wall. He catches it with one hand. "So, you ready for the raid?" Kirito closes his eyes when I shake my head.

We sit and stand in silence for a few minutes before I stand up to leave. Kirito reaches out and grabs my shoulder. "Asuna, I feel like something bad will happen tomorrow. I don't want our Savior to die. So don't feel bad if I don't make it."

"No promises, Beta Boy," I chuckle as I walk away.

"Beta Boy? Is that my name now? Ha, whatever, Savior," Kirito laughs. "See ya at the raid!"

I simple wave behind me, and I walk to my apartment. When I get to my room, I take off my armor and am left in my white shirt and shorts. Something bad, eh Kirito? We'll see...


	4. Switch 3 - The Savior

**Sorry in advance. I suck at fight scenes! And sorry for the cringe too. I cringed reading this, and I wrote it! And original-er content next post. And the plot gets wonky after this. Posting this early cuz the last one was short too... The chapters are longer after this! Promise! This is a long AN because I know there's a lot wrong with this chapter and the one before it... Sorry! o(-)o Enjoy!**

It's the day. The day we go and beat The Kobold King, Illfang. We rendezvous outside of the tower. I see Kirito, and I walk over to him.

"Hey. You know, many will die today," Kirito pokes my cheek. "Uh, it was supposed to make you shudder, or laugh, or show any emotion. At all? Or even speak?"

"Not up to it. I'm nervous, Beta Boy." I reply coldly. He rolls his eyes.

"Don't call me that, Savior," Kirito laughs.

"Oh screw you!" I laugh. After about an hour, we reach the door of the boss room.

"Okay, it's time to fight or die! We will make sure that everyone survives this death game! This is step one! Are you with me?!" Argo shouts, getting a chorus of battle cries in response.

We rush in, and me and Kirito are fighting the boss's minions. We figure out new combos that we can form together, with Kirito's rapier and my Anneal Blade, we dispatch of the monsters quickly.

The main group is hitting the boss with all their might. They get it down to half a bar of health, when suddenly, Argo issues another order.

"Okay, everyone fall back!" Argo smirks. "I'm going to take a shot at this thing!" That's when two thoughts occur to me. One, Argo was a beta tester. Two, the boss is switching weapons, and it's not a Talwar like was in the beta. That is definitely an Odachi.

"Argo! Watch out!" Kirito yells. We both rush into the path of the boss's sword, barely saving Argo. We both activate our sword skills at the same time, and the Odachi flies out of Illfang's hand. It goes flying right through my hood, and my face is revealed.

"W-wait! Savior?" Argo mutters as she watches me and Kirito drain the boss's HP to zero.

"Well then, that was an interesting turn of events, huh Kirito?" I poke his cheek. "We both got the final hit bonus, right?" I look at the item I got.

"Coat of Twilight!" Kirito whoops his fist in the air as he equips his coat. It's a white cloak.

"I got the Coat of Midnight..." I equip it. It's identical to Kirito's but it's black. We walk up the stairs, until we hear Agil's voice cut through the crowd.

"Gah. Didn't you all see what Argo did? She's a beta tester! She wanted those drops, so she told us to fall back!" Agil shoves his finger in Argo's face. "You would've died if the Savior and her friend didn't save you! Your greed would have killed you! And you deserved it!"

"She's a beta tester?"

"No, she's a cheater!"

"She's both! She's a beta tester _and_ a cheater! She's a... a..."

"Beater!"

"Yeah! You're a Beater! Stay out of our sight!"

"So you accuse me of cheating and being a beta tester! A _BEATER?_ Seriously? What do you think _they_ are? Your Savior? Her, I don't know, Angel of Death? That's the kind of Savior she is! She's a demon! She's a Beater!" Argo screams in frustration, darts up the stairs and teleports out of the room.

"Angel of Death? I like it! I suits the white cloak," I tease Kirito. "We are beta testers. So what? We killed the boss, didn't we? And we aren't cheaters. Everything we know is in that book, trust us."

"Hah, definitely! And, can you guys not be too hard on Argo? She's probably embarrassed and hurt," Kirito pitches in. I walk up the rest of the stairs.

"Wait, will you two make a guild? The Savior and Angel of Death could be our strongest players, and the guild could be-" Agil stops as I turn away.

"I'm a solo player. Sorry Agil... You're all great people, I'm sure, but I don't want to be your Savior. Not yet. I told a friend that I'm not ready to be a Savior yet. I'm just not ready..." I send Kirito a friend request. "See ya, Angel." When he accepts, I teleport to the second floor.


	5. Switch 4 - Filler Collection

**I've stooped low enough to grab bosses off of Roblox fan games... But this chapter is a few little filler adventures. I was going to post each individually, but I figured longer chapters are better. And Kirito and Asuna are strictly** _ **FRIENDS**_ **at this point, so don't even start. Enjoy!**

Level 21. Floor five. That's where we are. Kirito and I have teamed for every boss fight, usually with Kibaou or Agil. Standing outside of the boss room of the fifth floor, I feel more nervous than ever. Sure, Diavel got the boss's attack patterns for me, but I always get on edge when we're about to go against these things.

"Hey, Savior, you ready?" Kibaou taps my shoulder. I nod. He turns to Kirito "What about you, Angel?"

"That sounds so weak. I'd prefer the Death part in there too. Or, even better, call us Kirito and Asuna, because those are our names," Kirito laughs. He pulls out his rapier and equips his white coat. I draw my sword and equip my black cloak.

Ra'thae the Ice King. The giant golem towers above me. The main squad attacks it head on, and Kirito and I fend off all the minions. The boss is a robotic looking ice giant, it's attacks all being physical, with the only exception being a blast that freezes whoever it touches. At least, that's what Diavel's sources say.

The minions are little ice statues that came to life. The statues have lots of different types. There's archers, which shoot you with bows, swordsmen, who have swords that they fight you with, and protectors, who have shields and spears. They're all pretty self explanatory names.

"On your left!" Kirito shouts to me. I whip around and cut an Ice Arrow in half. I dash up to the archers that shot it and slice their arrows. Out of no where, they pull out daggers and all simultaneously slice me. I lose about a fifth of my HP. I slice through the three statues, shattering them into glistening crystals.

"They have daggers!" I yell to Kirito as I flip over a protector, slicing its back open as I land.

"Who? The sword ones?" Kirito and I stand back to back, surrounded by six ice warriors.

"No, Beta. The archers! Duck!" I whip around and swing a wide arc over Kirto's head, slicing right through the heads of our attackers.

"Don't call me Beta. I'll take Angel over Beta! And that's all the minions. Wanna go for the boss?" Kirito dashes towards it without waiting for a response. I stand in place, my sword readied, and activate my _Intermediate Dash_ skill. I'm at Ra'thae before Kirito is, and I transition into a Vertical Arc. I fly off the top of the Ice King and activate Sonic Leap.

"No! Savior! Wait! Don't finish it!" I stop the skill, and all of a sudden, I'm flying through the air, not able to move.

"Asuna!" I hear Kirito's voice as I hit the dungeon wall. My HP is below half, I can't move, and the frozen statues have respawned.

"I'm sorry Savior! I can't let you and Angel get the loot again! It's mine!" I hear a familiar voice. Is that...

"I'm right here Asuna! I'll defend you!" I hear Kirito's voice. I see a flash of white, and all of a sudden, I can stand again.

Kirito is standing in fron of me, fighting five swordsmen and being shot by multiple archers. I dash into two of the swordsmen and through three archers. That's when I hear a scream.

"Crap! Hell no! No! This can't-" I hear a scream, then I look to see a short girl had just pixilated. Argo... As cheap as a person could be, they don't need to die.

"Someone tried to solo the boss... Was anyone in a party with them?" Kibaou shouts over the noise of the battle.

"Talk later! Fight now!" Kirito hollers. He's right. We nod at each other and activate our special skill, _Twin Fissure._ We'd been working on it for a while, but the requirements weren't a problem. It simply was a skill that went to whatever party duo beat the most bosses. We had got the final hit on three of them.

Kirito dashes forward as I dash into the air. We both hit the boss, Kirito from the bottom, and me from the top, and the system makes a zigzag pattern through it. The boss splits into two, and a notice pops up.

 _Congratulations! You got the final hit bonus! The following item(s) are given as a reward:_

 _20,000 COL, Prism Blade_

"Sav- Asuna! Kirito! That was awesome! What did you get as drops?" Agil comes up behind us and pats our backs.

"I just got more COL and some longsword. Not interested though," Kirito hit the accept button on his notification.

"I got a lot of COL and this, Prism Blade..." As I say it, I realize I didn't hear about it in the beta.

"That's the one I got too!" Kirito equips it, and it's like a diamond. It refracts light everywhere, and when he powers up a skill, it glows with rainbow colored lights.

Suddenly, Kirito is flocked by half of our fifty person raid team, mostly players asking if he's selling his sword. Or if he's single.

"Haha, no, no, I imagine Asuna will want the sword. Right?" Kirito looks at me, his eyes pleading to get him out of this horde. A dozen eyes are on me. I could get him swarmed for the next day and a half, or...

"Yeah. I want it. And Kirito, we're going home," I push through the crowd and pull Kirito away. We climb the stairs and teleport to the next floor.

* * *

Once we get to the second town on floor six we rent an apartment. It has two beds, and I dump my loot on one of them.

"Hey, Kirito, did you see Argo? I'm pretty sure-"

"So it was Argo. God. I can't believe it..." Kirito rests his head against a wall. "I was hoping no one would die. And as much of a rat as she is, she didn't deserve death."

"That's what I was thinking too. The Beater is gone. That's odd, huh?" I chuckle. "At least it wasn't us!"

"Shut up! She didn't deserve to die! This is no laughing matter! Someone _died_ Asuna! Dead! They won't ever get to say goodbye to their family!" Kirito punches the wall, causing an _Immortal Object_ notice to appear. "Did you ever think about that? It's not just about us surviving! It's about everyone!"

"I know. I'm sorry Kirito..." I look away from Kirito. I walk into the dining room and change into my nightgown, my only other clothing besides my armor. Kirito said he'd take me to a clothing shop he liked sometime soon, but he's never gotten around to it. I come back into the room lean against the wall next to Kirito.

"I'm sorry for snapping, Asuna. I'm just so pissed at this game," Kirito swipes his hand down and removes his coat. He switches from pants to shorts, and sits at the dining table.

"Well, what'cha eating?" I sit down across from him. "No gourmet cooking tonight?"

"I'm not feeling up to it today," Kirito tosses me a jar of cream after he applies it to his roll.

"Thanks," I catch it and follow suit. After eating a roll, I pick up my things, and I lay down on the bed as Kirito goes to the wall to turn off the lights. He lays down in his bed.

"G'night Asuna,"

"Good night Kirito. See ya tomorrow." I'm asleep within seconds.

* * *

I wake up before Kirito does and so I sit on the couch and read. The newspaper is reporting mainly our floor clearing methods, who died this week, and of course, the "Savior and Angel's" actions. The attention is getting annoying.

After I finish reading the news, Kirito is still sleeping. I take the initiative to wake him up. I sit on his legs and poke him in the cheek.

"Hey! Kirito! Wakey wakey!" I whisper into his ear. I poke him again, and his breathing changes. He doesn't open his eyes though. "Kirito?"

Kirito sits bolt upright, nearly hitting my head. I jump back and yelp as Kirito breaks down in laughter. "Woah. That is a great start to the day. Scaring the crap out of my partner in crime without even getting out of bed!"

"Shut up. Make me food!" I demand, getting up and dusting myself off. Kirito chuckles as I sit down at the table. He tosses me a box and a bowl, and I pour the contents of the box into the bowl. It's cereal.

"That's whatcha get for being pushy!" Kirito sits down across from me and places a bowl on the table. "Now can I have that?"

I toss the box behind me, and it shatters upon impact with the floor. "That's what you get-"

"For being pushy. Yeah, should've seen that one coming," Kirito sighs and opens his menu, getting another box of cereal. After we eat, we equip our day gear and go to the Town of Beginnings.

"Okay. So, who should we visit today?" I ask Kirito as we stand on the roof of the Fuurinkazan guild house.

"Well, the people under us seem like a good guild to-" I put a finger to his lips.

"Say no more. We shall find a guild today!" I do a double backflip off the roof and stick the landing. Kirito simply jumps off.

Wihtout another word, he knocks on their door. A girl's voice calls out to us. "Coming!" We drop the flyer on the ground and run down an alleyway. "Hey, Klein? Come look at this!"

"That was your friend Lisbeth, right? She's pretty," Kirito says as he peeks around the corner. I don't know why, but I punch him in the face. "Ow! Okay. Fine. Don't call Asuna's friends hot. Noted." He laughs.

We drop these flyers at seven different guild houses. You see, these flyers aren't just random pieces of propaganda. We're anonymously telling guilds to meet us in a church we rented on the fifth floor, and if anyone pair from a guild can beat us, then we'll join their guild.

By the time we get back to the church, there's already two guilds waiting. They're mingling, so I don't think we kept them waiting too long.

We fly through the open window, right onto the church's alter. The guilds gasp, knowing what the black and white cloaks meant.

"Well, I don't mind if I do..." a man from the DDA steps forward. The DDA is the Divine Dragon Alliance, one of the strongest guilds yet. Sometimes their work is sketchy, but I doubt they can beat us. Another boy, slightly younger, steps forward to fight. Kirito initiates a double battle against them, and the time ticks down.

3...

2...

1...

GO!

Kirito charges in with his rapier, and I just watch. Before the older man has any time to react, Kirito has disqualified him, bringing him to half HP. The boy stands firm, holding an Odachi, probably a boss drop from the first floor. It's a little smaller than the one Illfang had, but it still looks intimidating.

Kirito throws two kunai knives and does a flip over the boy. The boy swings his sword, which Kirito lands on. The battle ends a few seconds after, when Kirito takes the boy to half HP with a barrage of stabs.

"Woah. That was amazing! Can we try our luck against you two?" two familiar faces step forward. Lisbeth and the red haired man are our next challengers.

"Lisbeth? How are you doing?" I ask her. "And who's this again?"

"Why do all the hot chicks not know me? Fine. I'm Klein! Leader and blacksmith of the Fuurinkazan! And this is my vice-commander, katana user-Lisbeth!" Klein says as he lets his pink hair wave in the wind. "And could you shut that window please? It's really cold."

"Wow. Thanks Klein. I feel like an amazing girlfriend..." Lisbeth stares at the ground.

"No, no, you're hot too, it's just... I want a harem!" Klein laughs, which gets him a slap in the face from Lisbeth. It wasn't strong enough to lower his HP though.

Kirito sends the battle request as me and Lisbeth catch up. She ended up giving Klein her hammer and he's has been increasing his blacksmithing skill, while she decided to take his katana. With the Fuurinkazan, she's up to the standard level-wise, and she's probably the only katana user I've met in the game.

The battle initiates, and Kirito takes care of Lisbeth swiftly. But Klein saw our strategy last time and tries to go straight for me. I jump up and land on a rafter.

"Holy crap! How'd you get that agility? You jumped twenty feet in the air!" Klein admires, not even caring when Kirito stabs him through, slowly draining his HP. But Klein raises his warhammer right before the duel is about to end, and he hits Kirito with a sword skill, or maybe it's a hammer skill? Either way, it was strong enough to take him to half health, which disqualifies Kirito.

"I trained. We both have high agility stats. The rest is a secret though," I wink at Klein as I jump down, and the skill _Skyfall_ activates. I land my sword on Klein's head, and I would've sliced him in half and killed him, had we not been in a duel. And had we been able to actually kill each other in the game.

"Woah. That was a great fight! Hey, do you guys have a permanent residence?" Lisbeth asks as she congratulates us.

"No. But we're renting an apartment on the sixth floor. It's really quai-" Kirito stops when I step on his foot.

"Oh. Would you guys like to stay with us? Just until you get a permanent residense?" Lisbeth cheerfully asks as I try to subtly gesture that the DDA is still here.

"Um, let's talk about this later," I jump up and out the window as Kirito waves goodbye to the Fuurinkazan and the DDA. Kirito lands beside me, and we both sprint down the alleyway.

* * *

"You get 12,000 col, Asuna. Nothing over 12,000, got it?" Kirito grabs my hand and pulls me to the shop he's been telling me about.

"Kibaou? Agil? You guys run a shop together?" I stare at the two men at the counter as we walk into the shop.

"Yeah. You didn't know that, Asuna?" Kibaou asks me. "We got over our differences. Agil said he'd be kinder to the beta's so long as I'd let him live and work with me. He's sales and I make armor."

"Excuse the manager. Welcome to the Fanged Lord! What may I help you with today?" Agil asks us. I smile at the surprisingly nice person, who I used to see as a lowly bully.

"Do you guys have any casual clothing? All I've got is a white nightgown, which I don't want to walk around the town in. Even my armor is more casual."

This gets laughs out of the two of them. After about a half hour, I end up buying a red battle skirt, a black leather coat, and a white shirt. I also buy a formal dress, if we ever end up attending any of the first floor entertainment crap. It's insane how much col people will waste to throw a party for the floor clearers. Kirito has gone to two parties, but I never was interested.

I go into the back room of the shop, where Agil and Kibaou let me change into my new casual outfit, the one with the leather jacket. I laugh as I come out and all three boys' jaws drop. I grab my best friend's hand, and pull him to the door.

We wave to Agil and Kibaou as we leave their shop.

"Asuna. I'm glad you're loving your new clothes, and you look great, but there's a litle problem with it..." Kirito closes his eyes for a moment. "Asuna. Kibaou and Agil are 30,000 col richer now. You went over budget! We'll be eating our rolls without cream for a month! We have 20,000 col left! We have to pay for the apartment, we have to have food, and what about..."


	6. Switch 5 - Moonlit Black Cats

**Okay, if the OOC is too much for you, you may want to stop reading. And if you dislike drama, also be warned. I have 4-5 pages of it in this chapter, and it may be fairly cringey... Enjoy!**

"...and that's how I met Sachi and her guild, the Moonlit Black Cats!" Kirito was doing some dungeon clearing on one of the lower floors, but then he didn't come back for two days. He came back as a guild member. You can bet I was pissed off at this.

"What happened to us clearing the game together? And this guild isn't on the frontlines, so you won't be either! And did they recognize you? As the Angel?" I ask him a barrage of questions.

"Asuna, no one's called us the Savior and the Angel for two months. And of course they recognized me. They asked me to mentor them. I think you should join too! It'll be fun!" Kirito grabs my hand. "And if you don't want to be with them, I'll leave the guild. We can be together, just us. Deal?"

I squeeze his hand. This guild better be great. "Deal."

* * *

"Kirito! You're back!" Sachi leaps into Kirito's arms. I already don't like this. I glance around the room. There's five members, not including Kirito.

"Woah, that's out of character for you, Sach. Does someone have a crush?" A yellow haired boy laughs. The rest of the guild cracks up at this. "Hey, you're Asuna, right? Kirito can't stop talking about you. I'm Ducker!" The boy puts out his hand, and I take it.

"Hey, Sachi, you won't be the only girl if Asuna joins!" a green cloaked boy points out.

"Well then I'll lose the fun of five boys wrapped around my finger!" Sachi complains. I don't really like this girl, but the other members are okay.

After a day of hanging out with Sasamaru, Keita, Ducker, and Tetsuo, I decide to join the Moonlit Black Cats. The good members outweigh the bad leader. Another day goes by, mainly it's just me and Kirito taking things from our old residence on floor one with the Fuurinkazan (We ended up taking their offer) and moving them to the Cat's base in Taft. But, as I assumed would happen, Sachi creates problems.

"Hey, Asuna, we managed to get a separate room for you. It must be cramped, putting two beds in a small room. So your room is two doors down from Kirito's!" I frown as Sachi says this.

"Nah, it's fine. I already started moving my stuff into Kirito's room. He's cool with it too," I start heading towards Kirito's room, and Sachi grabs my shoulder.

"As guild leader, I command you to go to that room that I bought you," Sachi smiles, as if she's won.

"You need to realize two things, you little rat. One, guild leaders give battle orders, not life orders. And two, I'm twice your level. I could challenge you for leadership, and we both know who would win. And you'd have to explain to your guild, including Ducker and Kirito if you kicked me out. But I'll let you win this time," I storm off to the other room, and I empty my inventory into a closet. Sachi is really, _really_ , pissing me off.

I get a good night's sleep, and when I wake up, I walk out of my room. I knock on Kirito's door, and lo and behold, Sachi answers the door. She smiles at me and waves. I know Kirito wouldn't do anything bad. I don't even think _that_ is possible in the game.

I go downstairs, where Ducker is the only one awake. "Yo, Asuna. How'd ya sleep?" Ducker smiles at me. I sit down across from him.

"My sleep was fine," I groan and slam my head against the table.

"What's wrong? Need coffee?" Ducker asks. I nod, not expecting this game to actually have coffee. He leaves for a minute, but when he comes back, he actually has coffee with him. "Here ya go."

I hate coffee, but I slug the 8 ounce cup of the crap, and dang, is it bitter... "Thanks, Ducker. So, about Sachi-"

"I figured you'd ask. Well, you see, we all know each other from a club at our school, with the exception of Kirito, and when we started playing the game, Sachi was scared to death. We all were. But when Keita broke down, she stepped up. Keita and her dated on and off, which made the rest of us jealous. It almost broke up our group. Sachi was sort of the only girl we knew that was interested in video games. But Sachi said she needed to break up with Keita, and our guild stayed in tact. I don't honestly know if they did break up, but Keita seems less stressed, and Sachi seems into Kirito now. I realized at some point in there, and I think Tetsuo did too, that Sachi's a little bit mean," Ducker takes a breath, then continues.

"Regardless, we all stayed together. A few days ago, we were wandering through a dungeon together, and we're only late level twenties, right? So we were almost dead, Tetsuo getting hammered, as he's our only forward. And then, BAM! Kirito saves us. And Sachi whispers to me 'He's pretty good looking.' And in my mind, I know what's going to happen. And you probably know the rest."

I stare at Ducker. He reaches for my hand, and I smack him. As he laughs, Kirito and Sachi come downstairs. Sachi trips as she comes down the stairs, and Kirito dives forward to try and catch her. The both end up tumbling down the stairs.

"Kirito, thank you so much! Not only for now, but especially for last night!" Sachi smiles as she dusts herself off. When she jumps into his arms, Ducker whispers something into my ear. I punch him in the face, and I storm off too my room.

I sit on the bed, holding an empty bowl that would usually be filled with salad, cereal, or anything. I realize now, how much I like him. God, I might even be developing a crush on him... No. That would just about end me.

I teleport to the current highest floor reached. Floor Thirty. It's only been a few months, it's April, and we've gotten from floor 5 to the Thirtieth. It's impressive, really.

When I get to the dungeon I have my mind set on beating, I see the Fuurinkazan waiting where I want to go.

"Hey Asuna! Where've you been? It's beem a while! Where's Kirito?" Lisbeth sends a barrage of questions my way, which I ignore. I hasn't been that long, and she knows where I've been.

I walk forward through the guild, and right into the optional dungeon of this floor. I draw my sword, the Prism Blade (+9). I run straight into the dungeon.

 _Sachi..._ I lop off a head of a Bear. _Kirito..._ I picture him and Sachi, with a little girl in a white nightgown. She has Kirito's eyes, Sachi's smile, and Sachi's hair. I run another bear through.

"Okay, switch!" I yell, and I kneel, expecting Kirito to jump over me. I remember a little too late that he's not there. Three bears are on top of me, and they've pinned my sword arm down. I close my eyes. _This is what I get for being jealous..._

My HP drops into the red. _This is really happening... I had hope... Kirito..._

Then, everything bursts into polygons. _Is this death?_ But then I see that the polygons aren't from me. They're the bears. "K-K-Kiri..." I don't know what I was expecting... Him to appear? No, he's probably with Sachi.

"Asuna! What happened? Are you okay? Drink this!" Lisbeth hands me a potion, and I drink it as I sob. If the Fuurinkazan hadn't been here... I'd be dead. I'm not sure I'd rather be alive at this point though.

"I-I-I'm just..." I cry into Lisbeth's shoulder. She pulls me in to a hug. I'd sound so shallow if I told her the real reason I was out here. But she's my best friend. I have to tell her. "Sachi... Kirito... I j-just-t..."

"Oh. You like Kirito. He likes you too, Asuna. You need to make a move, before whoever else does." How Lisbeth got all of that out of the four words I said, I don't know. But she's married in this Hellgame, so I guess a single person like me may not get it.

"Th-thanks Lisbeth." I swallow, and I stand up. "I'm fine now. I'm going to clear this dungeon before I go home."

After about two hours, I give up on the dungeon, and I teleport to Taft. When I get back, Ducker and the other boys are around a table, waiting for food. Sachi and Kirito are gone.

"Where's Ang- Kirito?" I ask Ducker, grabbing him by the shirt. I'm pissed that Sachi and Kirito are missing together.

"Hey, put me down!" When I don't, he gets the point and gestures to the kitchen. I go back there, and I see Sachi moving towards Kirito's hand. I cough, and Sachi reaches for his hand, but he's already walking towards me.

"Uh, Sachi, can you finish the food? I've got... Things to do! Right Asuna?" Kirito nudges me in side, and I nod. I grab his hand and pull him upstairs to his room. "Thanks Asuna. I was sort of flattered by Sachi, but now I think she's just trying to seduce me. She came into my room last night saying she was scared of sleeping alone. Nothing happened th-"

I kiss him firmly on the lips. "Shut up. I don't want to hear it. I don't think I'm staying in this guild. Your harem is too much for me."

Kirito backs away from me. "God, Asuna... I didn't know... I mean... Woah. Hey. Um, I'm going to put this out there, I guess I sorta like you, but, uh, I've never had a girlfriend before, and I'm not sure-" I put my finger to his lips.

"Haha, I haven't had a boyfriend before either. Well, I guess if this is going to work, I better tell you my age," I know that you shouldn't give away your info online, but in this game you see everyone how they really are. I feel like I can trust my best friend.

"Before you do that, I have one condition to us dating," Kirito looks down at the floor. "I like what these people have going on. Even if Sachi is forceful as hell. But I want to be here with _you_ , because I went through thirty floors with _you_ , not them. But they're catching up to our levels. They're almost all to level thirty, and we're going to a dungeon tomorrow..."

It's obvious that Kirito wants to stay, and I'm fine with that. I nod, and kiss him again. I walk out of his room to mine, and I put everything I have in my inventory. I put everything I have in his room, and I change into my casual clothes.

"This is fine, right Kirito? And 14," I ask him as I organize my things into different cabinets and cupboards.

"Yeah, but 14? What is that supposed to mean?" Kirito questions. I roll my eyes.

"I'm fourteen years old. October 7th, 2008." I say to him.

"Oh. Right. I'm fifteen. September 30th." Kirito laughs. "So, should we make the status official with a marriage?"

I hug him, and laugh. "Nope. Not yet. We haven't even dated at all yet."

That's when I hear a knock on the door. Kirito sits bolt upright. He opens the door, and Ducker's standing outside it.

"Dinner's read- Oh... That's how it is. I didn't realize... Well then! Um, I'm going to go..." Ducker bolts down the hall. I can hear him run down the stairs, and a door shutting behind him.

We both go downstairs. Sachi is sitting with her arms crossed at the table. "What did you do to Ducker? You better not have hurt my friend! All five of the rest of us can vote you out of the guild. We know each other in real life, you know."

Kirito crosses his arms. "Well, in that case, Asuna, we'd best leave," He puts on an amused smile.

"Yeah. I mean, if I go down, I'm bringing you down with me, Angel," I walk away from the table. "Eat without us guys. I'm going to track Ducker."

I activate my tracker, and I follow Ducker's footprints. Eventually, after ten minutes of running, I find him sitting in one of the drains.

"Hey Duck. How are you doing?" I ask. I sit down next to him.

"I'm fine Asuna. I just..." he sighs. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I just don't want anyone to die in our guild. I hope that one day, I can meet you and Kirito in the real world. And maybe, Sach will go back to being her old self."

"You still don't look like you've gotten everything off your shoulders..." I stare the boy in the eyes. He blushes. That's when it hits me. _Does he like me?_

"Haha, Asuna. Nothing gets past you..." Ducker looks the other way, then he stands up. "Thanks Asuna."

"For what?" I'm confused now.

"For being here for me. You know, I think I had a crush on you. But I also think I'm doomed to be forever single." Ducker chuckles. "Maybe I'll meet someone later in life. In the real world."

We walk back to our temporary base, making small talk the whole time. When we get back, the group is waiting for us. There's still a little of each course of the meal left on the table for us.

We dig in, and I realize that I never really wanted to leave this group. Sure, me and Sachi are rivals, but I'd never wish any harm on her. That's why this next part really sucks.

* * *

It's the day after Ducker's leaving, and Sachi reveals that she's going to go and buy a guild house. She takes Kirito and Ducker with her, and the other four of us go off to a dungeon. It's a little high leveled, but so long as we're smart, we should be okay.

We're about half way through the dungeon, when we reach three giant doors. I went through this dungeon, and I only know what one of the doors has. It's a bunch of miners and golems. We avoid that door, the one on the left, and go for the one in the middle.

"Haha! It's only a chest!" Tetsuo and Keita race over to it before me and Sasamaru can go inside the doors. Tetsuo and Keita vanish behind the doors, but I can see the room turn red. Their screams will haunt me forever.

Sasamaru and I are banging on the doors, trying to get them open. When they finally open, a giant Mimic, a fake chest, is staring at us. The two boys are now where to be seen. I shove Sasamaru behind me, and I kill the Mimic within minutes, barely dropping into the yellow.

Sasamaru is crying by the time I kill the thing. "C-cra-p-p... K-Keit-ta! T-T-etss-suo! Why d-did you do that-t?" Sasamaru sobs. I hold the boy in my arms, and I teleport us both out of the labyrinth, to Taft.

Sasamaru runs. He screams, and he runs to the edge of Aincrad.

"Sasamaru! It's not worth it! Live for them! Beat the game for th-"

"K-K-Keit-t-ta isn't-t-t here... Neither-r is T-Tetsuo." Without another word, he jumps. I race to the edge. The scariest part, is watching him fall. He comes to a realization that he doesn't want to die about half way through his fall. Now, whenever I hear the word _help_ , I'll come without hesitation. Because I couldn't help him, when he wanted it most. When he _needed_ it most. All three of them died because of me.

I assume Sachi will blame it on me too. Or Ducker. Or even Kirito. But they react very different than I thought.

"N-No... Please... Are they really gone?" Sachi runs out of the room. Kirito runs after her, without looking back.

"Asuna... What happened to kill them? I mean, Keita was our thief. He should've detected a giant mimic. And you've killed them before," Ducker asks, tear welling up in his eyes. I envelop him in a huge hug.

"They surprised me. The doors shut behind them, before Sasamaru and I could enter. And they tried to kill it. They must've detected the monster too late. I wasn't there... That's the only reason they aren't alive, Ducker. I'm so sorry..." We both break down crying in each other's arms.

* * *

It's September 30, 2023. As usual, I wake up long before Kirito. I rush to our guild house's kitchen. I've been preparing for this day.

I set up a banner, and use my finger to write in big bold letters "Happy Birthday!" The banner stretches across the whole kitchen.

I then start baking. I've been collecting recipes and ingredients, and now I can finally make this cake. I actually increased my cooking skill for this day.

I do exactly what the instructions say, and somehow, it actually looks right. Sachi walks into the kitchen, gives me a look, and then walks right out of the room.

I hum to myself as I prepare all of Kirito's favorite foods. I'm sure that I can't beat his cooking, but that's probably because I haven't almost maxed out my cooking. He's almost completely finished. It's sad.

Ducker walks into the room. "Who's birthday is it?"

I simply point to the cake, which I had just finished icing. It says "Happy Birthday Kirito!"

Ducker yawns, then he asks if he can help. I tell him that that's cool with me. So he fetches a bunch of cream from floor 1, and I try to make a pyramid of rolls.

An hour later, Kirito gets up. I've managed to get Sachi, Ducker and I all ready, along with all the food. We wait for him to go to the kitchen.

"Twenty feet..." Ducker uses his detection to hear where Kirito is.

"Fifteen.

"Ten.

"Five.

"Uh, guys, hate to break it to you, but he just passed us. He's leaving the house..." I sigh as Ducker tells us this. We all run after him. Happy Birthday, Angel.

* * *

It's been months since half of our guild died. Sachi, Ducker, Kirito and I are all on the same level now, all of us a frontline guild. Sachi has gotten extremely good with a sword, and since the deaths, she's grown really docile.

Ducker, in honor of Keita's skills, has taken up dagger wielding. He's actually become so fast, he got this mysterious new skill, Dual Wielding. The only unique skills like his are Holy Sword, owned by a player named Heathcliff (vice-commander of the KoB) and Infinite Spear, owned by a player named Kurokami (commander of the KoB).

But we got news from Diavel that there's a revival item boss drop that you can only get on Christmas Eve. So we're on our way to check that out right now.

"Dude, I paid Diavel a fortune for this map. If he's wrong..." Ducker tosses the map to Sachi.

"Diavel said you owed him a favor. That's not a fortune," Sachi catches the map and moves to the front of our party.

Kirito and I are holding hands in the back, making small talk, when I detect something. Kirito also senses another presence, and draws his rapier. I draw my sword, and we turn towards the assailants. The Divine Dragon Alliance appears from the trees, and Sachi and Ducker get ready to defend.

"Kirito! Sachi! Go get that item. Ducker and I will hold them off!" I shout orders to the guild. I'm not the leader, or even the vice commander. But in a group as small as ours, everyone's basically the leader.

The two of them run into the grove. I hear bells chiming above, and I raise my sword. The Divine Dragon Alliance does the same, and a battle ensues.

Ducker and I are instantly surrounded by fourteen people. Two parties. We go back to back. His two Sword Breakers appear in his hands, and we fight the group around us.

Two men swing their swords at my head, and I jump over them, letting them slash my ankles.

Their cursors turn orange. Ducker gets the idea, and when the majority of the players turn orange, they turn into an orange party. Great. Now we can hurt them without getting flagged.

Kirito and I are the fastest people in the guild at level 69 and 68 respectively, but at level 66, Ducker has done nothing but increased his agility, speed, attack, and trap detection, and in one or two levels, he'll probably pass us. He's definitely the over all one of, if not the most agile person in this game that I know of.

All of the DDA players are in the yellow in health by the time we finish them. They scramble back into the forest, and me and Ducker fall onto the snowy ground. We're not even below half health.

I look my friend in the eyes. We both crack up, and we strike up small talk. It's about ten minutes before Kirito and Sachi come back. The both look depressed. Kirito tosses me the item. I read the description.

I look away as I hand the item to Ducker. He hits a tree with his hand, hard enough not only to trigger a sword skill, but also to trigger an immortal object warning.

"So you can't bring people back from the dead. This really is a cruel game," Ducker sneers. "Screw you, Kyoujiro. We will win this game, for Sasa, Tetsuo, and Keita. We'll kill you, you demon!"


	7. Switch 6 - Ducker's Adventure

**Holy crap, I'm only at the equivalent of episode 4 of the canon series! Hope you like the changed PoV! And I feel like the only canon roleplaying is Asuna and Kirito being Yui's parents, so I that's what inspired this chapter. I feel like this could happen though! Well, anyways, enjoy!**

 **Edit: Welp, not sure how many more chapters this will have. Might get to Lisbeth and stop. Thank you for the continuous support, even though I'm horrible at updating on time.**

"Because, Sachi. With Kirito and Asuna getting special skills, I'm not the only super hyped one!"

"Well, to be fair, Asuna and I were pretty well known back in the days of the Savior and the Angel." Kirito smiles at me "But our partnership is why we got _Unison Blade_. You got your _Dual Blades_ because of your skills."

"Whatever. I'm going to go train. And visit them too," I leave the room, equipping my two Sword Breakers.

-Hi! I'm Ducker, one of the only remaining members of the Moonlit Black Cats. And this story is how I met our newest guild member, and how I got over my crush on Asuna, one of the second generation members. That's what Keita calls- excuse me, _called_ those two.

So, I'm leaving, right?-

I pull out a teleport crystal. I teleport to the thirty-five, where we fought the DDA and got that item. That's also where we built a little memorial for our guild. It was Sachi's idea.

But anyways, I'm walking through the forest to our little shrine to tell Keita and the rest about our success as a guild.

I'm about a half a mile from the shrine when I hear a scream. I dart off in the direction of the scream. I see three Impaired Chimps, all clustered in a group. I assume that they're attacking someone, but either way, it's XP. So I attack them, one slash in the back for each monkey is enough to kill them.

A girl in white and red armor stares up at me. I hit the blue "O" button on my loot box, and I look away from the girl. I'm about to start heading to the memorial shrine when she breaks down crying. I look at her, and I remember when I cried that way. True pain. With the pain absorbers in this game, the only true pain is losing someone. At least, that's how I see it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I kneel down next to the girl and give her a hug.

"P-P-Pin-na! She's g-g-" The girl starts crying harder. So she lost a party member.

"Oh... I've lost people too... I'm so sorry..." As I say this, she shakes her head.

"P-Pina is a drag-gon," Oh. She's a beast tamer. I've heard of them, and they're pretty uncommon. But I've met enough to help this girl. I stop hugging her, blushing.

"Hey, check your inventory. Do you happen to have an item with your dragon's name on it?" I ask her, looking over her shoulder.

"Pina's Soul?" The girl says that, and I laugh.

"Thank God. Didn't want to have to... Nevermind. Well, I'm Ducker. Moonlit Black Cats. Look, the good news is Pina isn't gone-" The girl tackles me in a hug, but then bursts into tears.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! I'm Silica! Pina is my best friend!" Silica tells me.

"Hey, there's some not so good news. We have to get to floor forty-seven to revive it. And we have to do it within three days."

"Oh..." Silica stands up. "I don't have the levels or equipment for that."

"Hey, what weapon do you use?" I smile when she says daggers. I send her an Ebon Dagger. I haven't used it since I was level 40-ish, and I don't honestly need it. "Do you have a place you're staying? Because my guild would gladly let you stay in our house. There's only four of us..."

"I've been floating around different apartments. But that... Are you sure I could stay there?" Silica asks.

"Yeah. Our guild house has twenty bedrooms, and three are in use," I laugh as we walk, slowly making our way to the memorial.

"Three? But I thought you had four members," Silica ponders.

"Do you remember the Savior from a year and a half-ish ago?" I continue when Silica nods. "Well, she had a partner, who was known as the angel. They both joined our guild a few months ago. Actually, now that I think about it, it's almost been a year. But yeah, the two of them are dating, and I think they're married, just not openly-"

"Wait, so there were only two of you in the guild before they came? A year ago? How'd you get the col?" Silica asks. If on cue, we reach the shrine we made.

"There were three other members. Keita. Tetsuo. Sasamaru... My God, I miss those three..." I sit down, cross-legged, and gesture for Silica to do the same. I light some incense, picturing their faces. There's no cameras in this game, otherwise I'd have a picture of them here. Instead, we put the revival item in a wooden box that has their names engraved on it.

As I tell Silica everything up to the Christmas Boss. She's in tears, and I have a feeling that she cries a lot. I tell her where our guild house is, send her a friend request, and I teleport to Floor 49, the city where we got the map from Diavel.

I walk up the stairs to our guild mansion. It's definitely too big for five people, and we only use about six rooms in the house, but it will be worth it when we get more people in our guild!

Silica is waiting at the top of the stairway. "Oh! Ducker! Thank goodness! I wasn't sure if this was the right place. You're sure that I can stay here?"

"Oh yeah. It's completely fine!"

"This isn't okay at all." We're having a meeting in our kitchen about whether or not Silica can stay the night.

"We have seventeen extra bedrooms. We bought a full on guild base. There's only 150-ish buildings this big in the game," I protest. Kirito and Sachi are against this, and Asuna is just talking with Silica. Asuna isn't one for political meetings and strategies.

"Yeah, we bough a _Guild_ base. Not an inn. We aren't even charging her, are we?" Sachi asks.

"Of course not! She's a friend!" I open up my menu and show them my friends list. "See?"

"You just met her. But fine. She can stay under one condition," Sachi turns to Silica, who's trying to wake a sleeping Asuna. "You have to join our guild."

"Um, there's a problem with that..." Silica points up to her health bar where an icon is. She's in the Knights of the Blood. Heathcliff and Kurokami's guild. That explains the white and red armor. "I mean, I'd love to join you all, but I don't know how to break it to Kurokami and Heathcliff. I mean, I'm their lowest level, but they basically adopted me when this thing started. I was scared, but they knew what they had to do. I owe them. Sorry Ducker. Just tell me where to revive Pina and I'll do it on my own."

Asuna crosses her feet on the table and leans back in her chair. "I say let her stay the night. Then she can go back to the KoB after Ducker helps her with her crap."

"I second that!" I say. Sachi glares at me, but Kirito just laughs.

"Majority rules, Sachi. Sorry!" Kirito raises his hand, as if to say "I," but he then drapes it around Asuna. "Can't argue with her, or she won't marry me."

"I'll marry you regardless, I told you that my condition was a vacation house," Asuna kisses his cheek. Silica awkwardly blushes.

"So can I stay the night?" Silica asks. I nod at her, and she smiles at me.

With that, Sachi dismisses us, and she goes to the main living room. Asuna and Kirito go upstairs, talking about their marriage plans. That leave Silica and I, three seats away on a twelve seat round table.

"Well, that's settled. You know, I get it," I sigh.

"Get what?" Silica asks me.

"I would never leave the Cats. They're my family, you know? If everyone were to die... Well, that already happened. I'm still with them, even though most of our guild died." I laugh, and Silica stares blankly at me.

"Well, I think that this guild is sorta... I don't know... more of a familia than a guild. You're all united just like a family. I get that vibe a little bit with Kurokami and Heathcliff, but they are always so tense. They're the only ones that act like family though. The rest of the guild isn't the best. Kuradeel is a stalker, the financial dude is fat and stupid, and the rest of the guild just says I'm being used for family roleplay."

"You're free to join us! We'd love another member!" I look at Silica eagerly. She's right, we're a family. And siblings squabble. We need a fifth person! I nudge her arm. "You up for it?"

"Let me sleep on it. Speaking of sleeping on it, where's my room?" Silica asks me. I gesture down a hallway.

"Any of the doors without signs on them. The four with signs on them are occupied," I tell her.

"Four? I thought-"

"Well, one of them we have as a room where we store replicas of the late member's gear. Except Keita's. That's in my room," I tell her. "He was originally our thief with daggers, but when he died, I switched. I was level thirty, so it wasn't that hard to change my skill path. I assume he would've ended up with my Dual Blades, but you know. He died and all."

"Well, I'm going to go to bed. See you tomorrow Ducker!" Silica opens the nearest door without a sign, the one in between my room and the memorial. I sigh, shake my head, and I go to my room.

When I wake up, Silica is laying next to me, and I look away the instant I realize she's in her underwear.

Blushing, I sit up and rub the back of my head. I wonder to myself when she got there, and more of why she's in my room, sleeping next to me.

I switch my nightclothes to my casual clothing and try to quietly leave the room without waking the girl who was sleeping next to me.

I'm apparently very bad at stealth, though I'm a thief, because Silica wakes up the second I open my door.

She looks at me, stretches, and then realizes she is in her underwear. She pulls my blanket over her, and she screams.

"I'm sorry!" We both yell as I run out the door of my room, slamming it behind me. I walk into the kitchen and see Sachi, in a dress, eating with Asuna and Kirito.

"Hey, sleepyhead, is your new girlfriend up too?" Asuna teases as I sit down at the bar type counter with my guildmates.

"She's not my girlfriend, but she's up, yeah," I blush, thinking of the awkward situation that I woke up to.

"I heard her having nightmares, so I sent her to your room. Your welcome!" Sachi smiles at me. I glare at her, then I turn to Kirito.

"What's for breakfast, oh mighty chef?" I joke, seeing Kirito's black apron on his white shirt and blue pants.

"Well, peasant, for you I have some apple raspberry pie. Will that suffice?" Kirito jokes, putting me in a headlock. Everyone laughs, and it's not until a good twenty minutes passes before Silica comes out. She's in her KoB armor, and she has the dagger I gave her equipped.

Kirito smiles at the girl, holds up a pie, and puts me in another headlock. Asuna frowns at her feet, then smiles at Silica.

"We've got some great pie. Want some?" Sachi asks her. Silica shakes her head and grabs my hand.

"Ducker said he'd go with me to revive her. We've got a time limit! Let's go!" Silica pulls me out of my seat and out of the guild house. I barely get to look back at my laughing friends, and before I know it, I'm standing on a teleport pad. "Meet at floor 39. I have to tell my leaders where I've been and where I'm going."

I oblige, and I teleport to the Knights of the Blood headquarters. Silica is already inside by the time I find it, and she's facing down a black haired man and woman, both with waist long hair. They're quite possibly the strongest players in the game.

"This is unacceptable, young lady! You're like a daughter to us! How could you just leave and spend the night at a small guild's sketchy house, all because of Pina and a boy!" I hear Kurokami yell.

"Where is this boy anyway?" Heathcliff patiently asks. I walk in to the room, and I lean against the back wall. I try to stay cool, though I'm intimidated as hell around this couple. The two strongest... They'd beat Asuna and Kirito. For sure. They'd beat our whole guild.

"I'm right here. Ducker, sir," I nod, swiping my finger down ad changing my clothes to armor. I only equip one dagger, that way they don't ask questions.

"What did you do to my baby girl?" Kurokami glares at me, and she looks pissed.

"He didn't do anything! And I'm not your baby girl! I have parents, you know! I can do what I want!" Silica slams her arms on the curved table in front of her. Heathcliff stands up, walks to Silica, and raises his hand above her head, his hand lighting up blue.

Within an instant, I have two daggers at his throat. "Don't even, _Daddy dearest_. Your roleplay has gone too far."

"That's not your choice. I can do what I want in this world. I'm stronger than you. I have more experience, and I have a higher level than-"

"Shut your yap old man. Fight me, and we'll see," I slip my daggers into their sheathes, back to the edge of the room in an instant.

"Fine. Two hours from now, the battle arena on floor thirty. You bring one other person, and we'll fight two on two. You beat us, Silica joins you. If we win, you never talk to her again." Kurokami smiles at me.

"No. One on one. One of you against me. I don't know a person with my skill who'd team with me, so go play rock paper scissors or something. I'll see you then. Come on, Silica," I grab her hand, and a spear whizzes past my head. It's red with forty-eight white spikes, ordered in four pointed columns along the spear's four foot long cylindrical shaft.

"Fine. But Silica stays with us. She needs punishme-" Kurokami stops when Silica stands up on her toes and kisses me on the lips, looking at her horrified roleplay parents, and pulls me out of the room.

"Well I guess I screwed that up... I wasn't expecting you to do that though... Do you-"

"Don't read in to it, Ducker. I needed an out, and a fake boyfriend is the perfect out. Congratulations by the way," Silica cuts me off in the middle of my sentence.

"Why am I getting congratulated?" I ask Silica.

"You're my fake boyfriend until they stop using me as roleplay. Or until you lose that fight. Which you won't, right?" Silica stops and looks me right in the eyes. "I really want them to want me for my skills, but the guild is right, I'm just being used. Teach them that what they are doing is wrong."

The word of my battle spread like wildfire. It was revealed that Kurokami was to fight me, and her Infinite Spear ability had most people betting on her.

The arena was packed with four hundred or more people, and the Knights of the Blood was hosting this as a social event. It was sort of like going to the movie theater. As I walk into the arena, I pass Kirito, Asuna, and Sachi.

"Ducker? What're you doing? I thought you were going to the Hill of Memories!" Sachi calls over to me from the line to buy your way into the coliseum.

"I was, but now I'm battling the leader of the Knights. They didn't like me, or the idea of Silica spending the night at our place. I may have put a knife up to Heathcliff's throat too," I explain, Sachi staring at me in horror, while Asuna and Kirito move through the line, holding hands and occasionally kissing.

"I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that Kirito and Asuna can merge together, or whatever their skill does, or the fact that we're pegged as enemies of the strongest guild there is," Sachi yelps as she's pushed through the line. "Bye Ducker!"

I walk, the KoB escorting me to the massive preparation room. They shut the seven foot double doors behind me, and I'm sitting in a room with starter weapons. I don't need any of those, I've had my daggers on all day.

When it's finally time to fight I step out the front doors of the prep room. Kurokami is dressed in a red suit of light armor. She has her spear on her back, and an invite pop up on both of our screens.

I hit accept, thinking about the two key notes of her ability. She can throw as many spears as she wants, and she has as much reach as she wants with them. She's long range, I'm short range.

The timer ticks down from 60 to 59.

 _58._

 _57._

Kurokami grabs her spear and levels it at my chest. She taps each of the small blades on her spear.

 _32._

 _31._

 _30._

Her forty-eight bladed spear is designed to grab your foe and not let go in close combat. Long range it's exactly like a harpoon.

 _14._

 _13._

 _12._

Each blade is about an three quarters of an inch long. There are two six inch handles, one in the middle of the spear for easy throwing, and one is at the back end for clubbing monsters. Or fake boyfriends.

 _5._

 _4._

 _3._

I lower my hands to my daggers. I crouch like a sprinter. _2_. I grab the handles of each "Sword Breaker." _1_. I picture the petite girl I met just a day ago in my mind. I smile at Kurokami.

 _GO!_

I launch myself towards Kurokami, drawing one dagger and slicing her cheek. I'm almost too fast to react to. I keep running past her, and I run up the seven foot wall of the stadium. I launch myself off the top.

Kurokami throws two spears at me with inhuman speed. I turn abruptly to the right and almost trip over my own feet. She sees this and launches a spear at me, the blades hit my arm. In this world, there's no pain, so I don't feel it, but I know that there's a spear lodged in my arm. My HP goes down about one tenth of it's maximum.

I rip it out of my arm and my HP drops another tenth. The spear disappears in my hand, and when I look up, Kurokami is in front of me. I draw my other dagger and flip over her.

I make two vertical cuts over Kurokami's body. She drops to the point that I could stab her one time and win. Before I can land, I see four spears coming at me. One stabs each of my feet, pinning me to the ground.

Kurokami smiles, and I use one hell of a hail mary.

I throw my daggers. As I do this, I grab the spears in my feet and I jump backwards. I land on my back, the spears still in my feet, as five spears fly over my head. I hear Kurokami yelp, and the battle is over.

 _Match Over! Winner: Ducker [Moonlit Black Cats]_

I pull the spears out of my feet and retrieve my daggers. I extend my hand for Kurokami to shake. She turns to me and is crying.

"I just w-wanted to have a daughter! I'm going to die here w-without children! This is your fault! If Silica hadn't met you-" Kurokami stops. She stands up, wipes her eyes, and shakes my hand. "C-Congratulations. You won, fair and square.

I walk out of the arena, and I'm greeted by my guild mates. Silica is with them. Heathcliff, donning a set of white armor and red shield, walks over to us.

"Well Silica, I guess you are now permitted to leave our guild. We will miss you thoroughly. I do want to see your resignation though," Heathcliff's brown eyes stared up at the sky, almost as if he was trying to look at his short brown hair.

"I'm really sorry Heathcliff. The RP was fun, but I want to be useful now. I feel like that's best accomplished with this group," Silica swipes her two fingers down. She clicks her guild icon, and she leaves the guild. She hugs Heathcliff, and then he's gone.

"Okay, I-I'm ready to join you now..." Silica wipes her eyes. She was crying, and it makes sense. She left the people who had cared for her for a year.

She accepts the guild invite, and we all head back home. After dinner, Silica and I are sitting down in the family/living room. Asuna and Kirito were perfecting their dual person special skill, and Sachi was training, trying her best to get a special skill of her own.

Silica leans over and puts her head on my chest. I smile down at her.

"I still owe you a dragon. Sachi says that she might come with us though," I say to her. We're sitting on a huge sectional, and it was definitely worth the investment.

"Aww. You make a great protector all by yourself though! And a great fake boyfriend!" Silica sits up and grabs my hands. She kisses me, this time not for show. "And I know you're going to be a great real boyfriend too."


End file.
